A Tangled Tale
by Shadows' Nightmare
Summary: Zorin Blitz steals a baby and raises her in a tower in the forest. Seras grows into a spirited young woman that wants to see the world. Pip is a mercenary fighting in a nearby war, and climbs the tower to escape his enemies. Seras is afraid at first, then offers him treasure for guiding her to a yearly festival she always wanted to see. Wacky roadtrip romance ensues.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I know, I need to update Blood Innocence and The Little Mermaid. I will. I just really want to share this instead. Hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I have no legal claim or financial gain to Hellsing or Tangled. (Rapunzel is common domain though, so I don't need to apologize for that.)

* * *

Once upon a time, there lived a young man and woman that ran their own farm. They had married young, and worked hard for their daily bread. Neither regretted their choice though, for they were both diligent and kind-hearted.

The man was tall, broad, and brown-haired. He was a strong, sturdy, reliable sort, never shying away from hard labor, nor his loving devotion to his wife. A stalwart, moral, upstanding man, his philosophy was always to do what needed to be done. Since his farm always had work to do, this gave him time to do little else. This gave him a reputation as being quite boring and unromantic among the town women, but just right for his pragmatic wife.

His wife was modestly beautiful, with long blonde hair and deep blue eyes. She had a quiet dignity and inner resolve that most men of her time found off-putting (as they prefered gentle lambs) but was just right for her stalwart husband. She was frugal, practical, an excellent haggler in market, and a dedicated spindler even before she married.

Their lives passed in what could arguably be boring routine. He worked the land and repaired the house, while she worked within the home, and even occasionally put the yarm to the loom to create cloth and clothes for market.

Despite their hardy lives, they were very kind and loving people.

For many years they longed to have a baby to bring their lives more joy, but prayed in vain. The seasons rolled by like stones, but still no child arrived.

Now, they lived across the way from a witch, who had great power and was feared by all in the land. From out their window and their front door they could see her little rickety hut, which was surrounded by a garden full of the most beautiful flowers and herbs. No one dared go into the garden though, because they were terrified of the witch.

Her name was Zorin Blitz, and she had a reputation by the locals alone for being hard, cruel, and sadistic. She was tall and muscular, and dressed like a man. She had grey leathery skin and tattoos of letters and mystic symbols along the entire right side of her body. She always had a huge scythe slung across her shoulder, presumably to reap the herbs of her garden.

Many rumors supposed she used her scythe to reap the lives of sickly infants, and all who died mysterious deaths, much like the Grim Reaper.

Certainly there was evidence to suggest she might use her scythe on living things.

Many a stray lamb, goat or cow had been seen wandering near her garden over the years, and every animal was never seen again. The scent of meat and other rich tasty spices could be smelled coming from her window more than anyone's. However, no one dared accuse her of slaughtering and eating their livestock because, quite honestly, they feared they would join them.

Even children that came to point, whisper, and throw stones at Zorin's hut always ran home to their parents screaming in terror, and were shaken years after. Some never got over their encounter. But none would ever reveal what she had said or done that had terrified them so. No one could guess either, as they had never seen Zorin reprimand the children, and saw no physical marks that betrayed injury.

The closest anyone got was a messenger from a neighboring village, who happened to walk by her hut as some kids were throwing stones at it. He said she only came out and laughed at them, calling them foolish little urchins. Yet they stared at her in horror for a long time, and then finally screamed in absolute terror, and fled like their lives depended on it.

Everyone thought this was natural enough since she was such a menacing individual, but this did not explain the absolute trauma most of the children carried for the rest of their lives.

"She looks into your heart," one haunted youth said after his face wrinkled and his hair greyed prematurely, "She finds what you hold closest to your heart, and uses it to break you."

Beyond that, he would say no more.

This only served to make the villagers even more fearful of her. Over the years stories of her grew more terrifying, and parents used the stories to make their children behave.

"Be a good boy, or Zorin Blitz will find you and eat you!"

"Be sure to come in before dark, or Zorin Blitz will come out into the night and kidnap you!"

Now, the aforementioned married couple were a little skeptical of the rumors, since they had seen no evil from her; but never the less, they chose to err to the side of caution.

However, when their attempts at having child continued to fail, the husband looked at his wife a little dubiously and said, "Perhaps we should ask for assistence from Zorin?"

"Absolutely not," she said. Then, in a lower voice: "Zorin's gifts always come with a price."

Terrified though everyone was, once in a blue moon someone desperate enough for any sort of miracle found themselves compelled to knock at Zorin's door. Nothing good ever seemed to come from these clandestine meetings.

The husband was a little disappointed, but in the long run his wife's resolve paid off.

Over the next few weeks she began to feel very fatigued, nauseous, and vaguely feverish. She was plagued with revulsion toward foods she never took issue with before. At first she feared it was because she had spoken ill of Zorin, until she started to realize her strange illness matched the way many women came to be when they were with child.

Her husband learned when he walked in for dinner and found her bent over a (cleaned) chamber pot, wretching. She had never done this before, so he rushed over to her with concern.

"Darling, are you all right?"

She laughed. "I'm fine, dear."

He was confused. "You're fine? But how?"

She looked at him and smiled, though her face was pale and clammy. "Have you never wondered how my bodice grows tighter despite how little I have been able to eat?"

His eyes widened, and then he said, "So you think...?"

"Yes, dear," she smiled. "I believe God has finally blessed us with a child."

Her husband scarcely dared to hope. He clasped her hands in his and kissed them. "Are you quite certain?"

"My dear," she beamed, so much she seemed to light the little cottage with her radiant smile that shined from the heart and eyes, "I have felt deep fatigue at tasks I have performed for years without effort. I suck down water like a horse after a long journey, though I rarely leave the home. I often feel ill at the very thought of most foods and yet my stomach swells, as do my breasts although they feel so tender. My dear, I believe it is a child."

Her husband was overjoyed. They laughed and embraced and he showered her with kisses.

A few more months erased any doubt. Her breasts and stomach indeed swelled despite being so tender. It was a wonder she was able to prepare meals for her husband every day when she could no longer stand the smell of dough, or the slimy sight of eggs.

They soon set to work preparing for the arrival of the baby. She began to adding little socks and smocks to her needlework, while he set to work building a craddle.

And yet, her husband feared for her health because she always seemed too ill to eat. It was worst in the mornings through most of the day, and didn't ease until late evening. Even then, by supper she could only keep down a few bites at the most.

She was a determined soul though, and forced herself to choke down enough food that their child could be healthy.

Eventually they found that leafy greens were much easier for her to keep down, as they were so light and odourless, and she could eat without too much grief.

Over the next few months she felt marginally relieved. She could go about her chores, prepare their meals, and still have time to look out the window (as she often did) and admire the natural beauty all around; rather than spend it bent over a pot, feeling miserable.

One day the woman thus stood by their window and looked down the road. Her eyes skimmed over the witch's garden, then snapped back when she saw a bed filled with the most beautiful rampion (rapunzel). It looked so fresh and green that her mouth watered instantly, and she stared as though entranced.

She then scoffed. "Remember yourself," she said, and went back in.

However, she could not forget the lushious green rampion leaves. Soon she longed for it, and then began to pine for it. She was a very self-possessed woman, and did everything in her power to ignore, and then suppress, and then substitute it. She ate every other type of leafy green she could get her hands on. She searched the market for anything that would do, and bought them by the bushel.

She looked for any other neighbors and farmers that grew rampion, but only one farm in the entire town grew any, and theirs were much more dry and drab than the witch's patch. She choked them down with little satisfaction. She might as well have been sucking down string for all the good they did.

Those fabled hunger cravings she had heard from other women finally hit her, and the woman felt such a deep longing she could hardly bear it. She thought of rampion every day. She thought of it almost every waking moment. She longed to taste the fresh green leaves in her mouth, to feel them crunch against her teeth, to feel them become moist as they rolled around her tongue, and to slide down her throat, into her stomach, then through her veins. She then rubbed her stomach and imagined her child would feel it too.

She had tasted rampion before, but never at a time she could appreciate it as she did now. She almost cursed herself for never appreciating how delicious it tasted when she could get it, so that she would have it now, or at least have the memory to sate her over.

Yet, remembering didn't sate her. Every time she looked out the window and saw the rampion, she felt as though the sight beckoned to her like a siren's song, and drained a little more of her life away. Just knowing she could never have it made her feel quite drained and melancholic, and she soon looked very pale and miserable.

Soon, her husband noticed her condition and felt very alarmed.

He approached her one evening, when she stared longingly out the window, and ran his hands over her arms. "What ails you, my wife?" he asked.

"Ohh..." she sighed. "It is nothing. You'll think it another foolish fancy of we silly women."

"I could never think that, for you are the most sensible human being I have ever met; woman or no."

"You are too kind," she said. She attempted to sound sardonic, but her fond smile betrayed her pleasure at receiving the compliment.

He kissed her cheek, and squeezed her hand. "Now tell me, what ails you?"

She sighed.

"Oh, it's quite silly," she insisted, "I've just developed a longing for rampion leaves, like those in the garden outside our window."

"That's it? Well then, my dear wife, we shall fix it at once."

"If only it were so simple," she said. "I have already looked around, and there is not but one other farm in the whole village that grows rapunzel, and his stock is quite withered and tasteless."

"Well then, perhaps we should ask Zorin Blitz if we can buy some of her rapunzel," he said.

"No..." she sighed. It was not the sharp "No!" he was accustomed, but a weak, drawn out, almost whining sigh. "It won't do," she continued, "Zorin's garden is most likely enchanted against intruders, and it's not worth asking to buy or trade. Zorin's favors always come with a price."

She regained more of her old resolve as she said it.

"But, my dear..."

"Darling, we have wanted this child for too long. I will not risk anything happening to her, or us, for a bit of rampion leaves."

Never-the-less, she continued to slump and pine, and looked more miserable and longing the more time went on.

Finally her husband, who loved her, thought: 'Rather than let your wife die, bring her some of the rampion yourself, cost what it will.'

As previously stated, the man's philosophy was to do what needed to be done as soon as it needed done. He would see a problem and immediately find a solution. If the roof had a hole, he would thatch it at the first chance. If the field needed tilling, he went out to do it, come scortching sun or choking fog. He was never the kind to think, "Better to wait for ideal weather," or "Perhaps I should put it off for another season, when the conditions have improved." For better or worse, when he saw an immediate problem, he set out for an immediate solution. (Within reason, of course.)

In this case, he saw only the immediate problem of his wife pining away for rampion leaves, and so rampion leaves he would get her. If the witch was the only one with the rapunzel that could satisfy her longing, then she was the one he would go to.

He secretly agreed with his wife that Zorin Blitz likely enchanted her garden against thieves, and saw no point in risking the penalty of getting caught by trying to steal. Besides, he was too moral and upstanding for that. Why steal when he could pay? So he merely strolled up her path, knocked on her door, and explained to her quite calmly that his wife felt such a longing for her rapunzel that she looked as though she would waste away for it, so could he possibly buy or trade some from her?

He did not notice anything unusual in Zorin's smile, though her lips peeled back like a corpse to reveal her pointed teeth. "Very well, you shall have your rapunzel."

And so he paid her for a handful and brought it home to his wife.

She protested at first, but he assured her the rapunzel was bought and paid for, with the witch's full knowledge and consent. Since the purchase was already made, there was neither harm in keeping it nor sense in returning it.

Her craving soon clouded her judgment, and so she quickly made a salad of it, and ate greedily. It tasted so good to her–so delicious and heavenly, that the next day she longed for it thrice as much as before.

Now her craving was truly unbearable, whereas before it had been on the threshold of tolerable, and she begged her husband to go talk to the witch again to aquire more.

He did as she asked, aquired more, brought it to her. Again she made a salad of it, ate it, and felt little satisfied. In fact, this time the craving increased almost immediately after she had finished eating. As soon as she could ask without looking desperate (thirty seconds) she begged her husband to bring her more.

On and on they went. His wife's craving seemed to only increase with every mouthful, and she began to beg more and more ardently, more and more quickly after every meal.

Eventually his last coin was spent, and he was forced to approach Zorin and admit, "I have little more to offer, yet my wife is more desperate for your rapunzel than she ever was. I'm afraid the child's demands are endless, and give us little peace. Normally I would leave off, but since my wife is so dear to me, I ask you: Is there there no way we might come to an arrangement? Perhaps allow me to borrow some of your rampion leaves, and in exchange I can come to do labour on your farm, or give you a share of my crops once they come to harvest?"

And this was exactly what Zorin wanted to hear. She grinned her psychotic corpse grin, and agreed to let him take away as much rapunzel as he needed... for a price.

And so a deal was struck and he brought rapunzel by the bushel to his wife and she, in turn, devoured bushel after bushel to ease the child's demands.

Yet, a shadow of a doubt crossed her mind. It was not overwhelmingly worrying, but it did leave her vaguely unsettled.

She was thick with child by this time, and one night when she lay down in bed, when her husband asked why she seemed troubled, she replied, "... How strange it is, that I felt such a craving for rapunzel that only grows in the witch's garden, and every sight of it made me desire it more, and every bite increased my longing rather than sating it; yet it has only subsided now that you have promised to work off the debt."

"... What are you getting at, my wife?" he asked, as a shadow of fear seized him.

"... Nothing," she finally said, and settled down to sleep.

What was done was done. There was no taking it back now.

Eventually the woman came into labour. Of course the birthing hour drew during the most wretched storm the village had ever seen, and her husband was helpless to make her feel better but dab her face with warm water as wind and rain rattled their door and windows, and lightning and thunder tore up the black sky.

Finally, the woman groaned in agony as her baby's head crowned, and the cottage filled with the sharp smell of blood, followed by the piercing wail of a newborn.

The father nearly cried on seeing her, so overcome was he with fear and joy all in one.

A healthy baby girl was born, with big blue eyes and beautiful golden hair, just like her mother's. Her parents both cried with joy. The mother was covered with sweat and tears, but she smiled wearily when she heard that the baby was strong and healthy. The midwife cleaned both mother and child, then swaddled the babe in warm, dry blankets. The parents were so overjoyed that they took turns holding her and each other; the latter with the baby pressed gently between their breasts.

Even the mother, who had always been a practical sort, nearly wept for joy when she held her daughter for the first time, and her face melted into a loving maternal smile as she nuzzled her baby's face.

"She's so beautiful," she said.

"Yes," he smiled, "just like her mother."

She laughed. "With her father's strength!" she said, as the baby clutched her finger in her tiny little hand.

They could never decide which name they wanted best to give her, since they had come up with so many names in their long anticipation of her arrival, and so they decided on the two names they each loved most: Seras Victoria.

But a dark shadow fell over their maternal bed.

The mother, husband, and midwife all looked up in horror when a flash of lightning showed the silhouette of Zorin Blitz standing at their doorway. She had a wolf's smile.

"A little girl!" she exclaimed. "How marvelous, how perfectly fitting for me!"

The mother clutched the baby protectively in her arms, and the father approached Zorin to ask what this was all about? After the woman had successfully given birth, Zorin Blitz appeared by their side to collect their child. She would have taken the child, named her "Rapunzel," and carried her off, had her father not stood between them.

"Madam, we had an agreement," he said.

"Of course we did," she grinned. "You said you would pay me in exchange for the rapunzel I gave you. Well, you have not paid me back, so I shall take the child as payment."

"How can that be? I have worked for you tirelessly since the day we shook hands. I have..."

"The condition was that you would pay your debt to me for the rapunzel you took. But did you bother to count how many rapunzel leaves you took to feed your wife's endless greed?"

Realization slowly dawned over their features. The man's jaw fell, and the woman's face turned pale with dread.

"You never said..."

"Oh, didn't I?" Zorin smirked. "Silly me. Well, what's past ist past. You already devoured most of my garden to feed your wife's lustful appetite. Well, now you can keep working to pay off the debt we agreed on for every single leaf; and I never forget. The minute you can pay no longer, I shall take the child as payment!"

And she slammed the door, leaving them in darkness. Sensing her parents' grief, the child wailed.

It was a dark time for her parents. Soon, they toiled with the burden of running the farm, raising a newborn baby, and paying back their debt to the witch.

Zorin Blitz proved to be a cruel loan shark. Since they had not made their deal in writing (what peasant could in those days?), she could change and alter the terms as often as she wanted. She could keep increasing the price as much as she pleased. Because of her great power, they were helpless to stop her.

No matter how hard they toiled and sacrificed, their payment was never enough. They soon wilted under Zorin's oppressive shadow, and their farm fell into squalor under the burden of paying back their debt. All the color, hope, and joy was slowly sucked out of their lives as sure as blood is sucked by a vampire.

The stress made them tired, snappy, and irritated with each other. While practical but kind people, husband and wife now fought constantly, and their child often cried as though in response to her parents' grief. While they had wanted her for so long, it was now impossible to enjoy her due to the terror of losing her.

By some cruel paradox, part of them resented the child because they fell into this debt due to the pregnancy craving set on by her, yet they heeded the craving out of love and concern for her health and well-being. They also worked tirelessly out of terror of losing her, yet they resented the struggles and demands of caring for a newborn baby since it distracted them from the work they needed to pay to keep her.

Seras' mother often got impatient and sighed, scoffed, and even yelled at her, but it was stress brought on by the terror of losing her. Sometimes, when she felt the weight of the world would cause her to collaps, she would take her child, set her in her lap, and just look into those large blue eyes. At such times, no matter how stressed she got or how irritated she felt with her child, she felt her love increase tenfold, and thought, "This is worth it. It's worth this to keep you."

But still, she worried. They both did. They worked and toiled in terror, and felt this looming shadow fall over them.

One night, as they lay in bed, too exhausted to move but too stressed to sleep, husband turned to wife and whispered, "Perhaps it's better if we run? I fear we won't be able to pay the debt, or Zorin will find some excuse to take her. If we leave this place, perhaps we can keep our baby?"

"No. Zorin has great power. She can hunt us, find us. What do you think the penalty would be if she caught us trying to escape? No, the best we can do is keep working and hope that we can lift this curse before our child reaches adulthood."

Eventually Seras grew big enough to sit up, then crawl, and then walk. Her parents smiled at her accomplishments, although they grew more gaunt and weary from the burden of their labor. It would be a lie to say they never sometimes entertained the thought of giving her up or running away with her to end the burden of their labor; but one look at her and they just couldn't bring themselves to do it.

If they could just keep steadily paying, they thought, they would earn their right to keep her, and no longer fear losing her or running in fear of Zorin's shadow.

Then out of nowhere, Zorin decided their time was up.

One stormy night, just like the night Seras was born, she knocked at their door to curdle terror. Then she kicked down their door as lightning and thunder struck, and entered their threshold with two brutish thugs at her side.

"Time's up," she said, and the men pounced.

Far away from that little village, deep in the forest, Zorin took the child to a hidden tower where she hoarded all her treasures and trophies from previous conquests. The tower was filled to the ceiling with all manner of things: whole bookshelves filled with magical tomes, glorious treasure, magical trinkets, and mythical items of every kind: dragon eggs, pheonix feathers, and even unicorn horns, hair and blood, for few in the world were evil enough to bring harm to unicorns as Zorin would.

And among these treasures: a little girl with long golden hair.

Zorin kept the girl as just another stolen good to hide in her tower; another trophy to remind her of the lives she had gleefully destroyed.

Needing some use of the thing, Zorin taught her how to sing like a little song bird, and listened in satisfaction.

_"Save what has been lost,"_ the little girl sang.

_"Bring back what once was mine,_

_What once was mine."_

Zorin smiled in sadistic pleasure as she wove spells into the child's hair. She was a practicing witch that occasionally wanted or needed some live subject to test her magic or potions on, and Seras made a perfect test animal. A little girl with little memory of life before the tower, nowhere to go and no means to get there, and who depended on Zorin as her parent and only lifeline, Zorin could do whatever she pleased with her.

When the little girl asked about her parents, Zorin said, "Your parents sold you to me because your mother had lustful appetite she did not even attempt to control. Your father stole from my garden, and then willingly sold you to me in exchange for his wife's cravings. They cared more about fulfilling their selfish desires than their own child. You are better off with me, so ask about them no more."

"Yes, Zorin."

But the girl was still very unhappy living in this dark tower, neglected by the woman she relied on and buried under countless magical trinkets and artifacts the woman cared about more than her, she longed for the wide open world, beautiful forests, singing birds, and bright sunlight she saw outside her window.

As Zorin experimented with her hair, cast a spell that would make it grow long and become embewed with magical properties, Seras asked sadly, "Why can't I go outside?"

"The outside world is a dangerous place, filled with horrible, selfish people. Just like your mother and father, who willingly traded you to me to fulfill their own desires. You must stay here where it's safe. Do you understand, my pet?"

"Yes, Zorin."

But Zorin's oppressive shadow could not hide all the light. While Seras was unhappy within the tower, her spirit was not completely suppressed. She held a secret love for looking out the window, admiring all the natural beauty that lay outside, just as her mother had done from her own cottage window. During the day she admired the beauty of the lush green trees and endless blue sky, and at night she admired the moon and stars at night, and the shooting stars that signified making a wish.

And every year, on her birthday, the sky filled with thousands of bright lights unlike any star she had seen, and Seras snuck out of bed while Zorin slept to watch them with awe. She was a brave and spirited young girl despite Zorin's overbearing oppression, and she held onto the secret and persistent desire that one day, she would explore the world she loved so much. She would see the floating lights that lit on her birthday, and bathe in their rapturous light.

* * *

In the original fairy tale, the father stole rapunzel from the witch's garden, then got caught the second time. She promised not to punish him and provide all the rapunzel his wife craved in return for them giving her the baby once it was born; and they agreed! I know he was afraid for his life since the witch was terrifying, plus pregnancy cravings are nearly unbearable, but who trades their child for vegetation? Rapunzel was almost better off with the witch.

I guess the story would be more flowing if I followed the Tangled adaptation of Seras being a lost princess with the power of a magic flower, who was stolen by the witch and unknowingly felt drawn to her home because of lanterns that light every year up just for her... but I like the original story, and I like the idea of Seras being common-born instead of a princess! Greatness comes from anywhere, darn it! Girls don't have to be princesses to be special.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: I deleted Roses and Wine because no one seemed to like or review it, so I'll focus my energy on fics people might like. Still working on Little Mermaid and Blood Innocence.

Disclaimer: I have no legal claim or financial gain to Hellsing, Rapunzel, or Tangled.

* * *

Years passed, and Seras grew from a stubborn little tomboy into a beautiful young lady with large blue eyes, and flowing golden hair. Whenever Zorin was away, she opened all the windows of tower to let in sunlight. While she wilted under Zorin's shadow when she was around, she herself was a bright and sunny girl in her absence.

Seras was not the only living being in the high stone tower deep in the forest. Zorin regularly brought live creatures like worms, newts, frogs, lizards, bats, and other animals to throw into her potions or test her magic on. Seras often felt so sorry for the poor animals, and no amount of crying or pleading would persuade Zorin to stop hurting or using them. If anything, it just cheered her on. Most of them wound up in her potions, or locked in jars and vials that Seras couldn't open thanks to magic. Only after years of putting up the biggest fuss did Zorin eventually consent to kill the animals first and bring their bodyparts into the tower in vials and jars. It wasn't great for Seras, but it was an improvement.

She managed to save only one. There was one little black vampire bat that Zorin used her illusion magic on. She clutched it in her large hand, nearly squeezing it to death, then muttered a few incantations. As she did so, the tattoos along her right arm glowed and traveled onto the bat, engulfing it. The bat then started squeaking and struggling frantically, and when Zorin let go it squeaked and fluttered around frantically. Zorin grinned maliciously, enjoying the show of a little bat that was bombarded with such illusions that it screamed and flew around as frantically as though a nest of shaken bees were buzzing around in its little head.

Finally, Seras couldn't take it. "Please stop! You're hurting it!"

Seras always hated when Zorin hurt animals. She was helpless to make her stop, although she had often tried, and Zorin ignored her cries of distress. The bat continued screaming and darting frantically, until Zorin suddenly grew weary of it and squashed it with her open palm.

Seras gasped in horror.

"There, it is done," she scoffed, and carelessly tossed its crushed little body to Seras from over her shoulder as she walked away. "Now dispose of this hideous thing. I never want to see it again."

Seras felt she would cry as she held its crumpled little body in her hands, and sniffled as she walked toward the windows. Not until she reached the edge did she notice it twitch, then start to shift around, and realized it was alive. She looked down to the ground, and knew what a long drop it was. If the fall didn't kill it, then some hungry animal prowling the forest did. If not that, it was too weak and injured to provide for itself. It would die of hunger or thirst.

Unable to let it die, she quickly grabbed a flower from a fruit from a nearby bowl and threw it out the window to give the illusion of tossing something overboard, then hid him in the pocket of her apron, then slunk back away to bed. It was easy to do so without rousing Zorin's suspicions, since Seras often slunk back to bed like a kicked puppy, sniffling and crying over the injustice of it all.

"Aren't you going to do anything about this mess?" Zorin demanded, motioning toward the used cauldron and vials of ingredients left out.

"Oh! Coming, Zorin!" Seras said, and ran to do it.

Seras later made a nest of socks in a small jewelry box that she kept under her bed. She placed the little guy in it so he could sleep comfortably, and secretly nursed him to health. At first it was difficult knowing how to water and feed him since he was so little, but eventually Seras realized that if she wet a cloth and let him suck on it, he could get the water he needed without her drowning him. She also tried She used healing herbs from . She tried to

Eventually, they got into a little groove and Seras happily nursed him back to health. Late at night, when Zorin was either asleep or absent, Seras would pull out the little jewelry box with the little bat inside, and she would fold her elbows over her bed as she watched him sleep peacefully in his little sock nest, or gently stroke his little head with the tip of her index finger, which seemed to comfort them both.

Seras was very lonely in the tower, and enjoyed his company.

It got a little harder to hide him when he was recovered enough to move around but not enough to fly, but somehow she managed.

When he finally recovered enough to fly, Seras watched him set out with a heavy heart. She would miss him, but she was happy to save him so he could go out and do whatever bats do. Maybe find his friends and family, or go out smelling flowers and eating bugs, like Zorin said bats do.

She was rather surprised when he came back to visit her periodically, though always when Zorin wasn't around.

Seras would be doing her chores sadly, only to see him flutter in from the window, circling her head.

"Hey, little batty thing! Where'd you come from?" she grinned.

He'd squeak and flutter around, and Seras smiled much more happily and felt much better at . She didn't even mind mopping up the bat droppings.

She wondered why he came back when the tower was so scary for him, and where something so terrible happened. She liked to think he loved her so much he came back to the place of danger to be near her, and this was partially true. The little black bat didn't hide how much he liked her. However, when she saw him trying to go for an insect and missing horribly, as he could barely fly straight or keep his attention on it, she realized there was another reason for it.

Unfortunately, the bat was forever altered from Zorin's experiments. His brain was so scrambled he could barely provide for himself. He remained frantic and erratic following Zorin's experiment, sometimes squeaking a mile a minute and darting to and fro. He also seemed very confused and unsure of his surroundings at the best of times (unless it was around Seras) flying into things and squeaking angrily at harmless objects. Seras once caught him picking a fight with the statue of a cat on a book shelf.

He was also terrified of Zorin. He seemed to hear her or sense her long before she arrived, and squeaked frantically before darting to hide. He always hid from Zorin, which Seras couldn't blame. She was also glad for it, because she needed him to hide from her. Zorin would have surely killed him or forced him out had she seen him.

Now, there was only one thing left.

"You really need a name," Seras smiled as he darted around.

She couldn't understand him, but if he could talk she imagined he'd talk a mile a minute, constantly interrupt himself mid-sentence, and jump from topic to topic.

"You're so batty," she grinned, then thought of a name.

So, Batty Koda became Seras Victoria's permanent animal companion. If Zorin would train her to be a proper witch and/or know about him, she would have probably called him Seras' familiar.

Seras did enjoy his company a great deal, even if he was a little erratic. He was often more calm as he rested on her shoulder, and squeaked pleasantly. While she couldn't understand his literal language, over time she got so accustomed to him that she felt she understood the jist of what some of his squeaks were trying to say.

When they weren't doing chores, the two played together.

He was so small and dark that he blended beautifully into the dark tower, so he often hid while Seras counted and went to seek him.

She found him in all the hiding places in-doors, so while she counted he darted outside-then gave himself away by crashing into the shutters.

Seras opened them wide. "HA!" but saw no bats.

"Hm," she grinned, "I guess Batty Koda's not out here!"

He chuckled from his hiding place, then Seras used a small strand of hair to lasso him. "Got you!"

He squeaked in alarm.

"All right," Seras said. "That's 23 for me, and breakfast is over. Now we can play another round, or you can go to bed while I get started on chores."

He frowned.

"All right, well," she said, and sat on the windowsill, "What do you want to do?"

Batty squeaked excitedly and flew toward the outside world. Seras pinched his little wing and drew him back.

"Sorry, that's not happening," Seras said. "If you would like to go, I won't stop you, but I have to stay here."

Batty squeaked indignantly.

"Oh Batty, don't be like that. I'm all right. I like it in there, and so do you."

He stuck out his pointed little tongue.

She scooped him up in her hands. "Oh come on, Batty Koda, it's not so bad in there."

This was a lie. Outside, the forest looked as bright and cheery as a fairy tale. Inside, it looked as dark and Gothic as a scene from the Brother's Grimm.

And she hopped back into the tower where she tread barefoot on the hard stone floor, and her long train of hair dragged behind her. She had not got to washing or braiding it yet.

She then climbed the rafters, used her hair to open a latch from the ceiling to let in sunlight, then grabbed a mop. She then batted and scrubbed the ceiling and rafters to get every speck of dust and cob webs off of it. Best to make sure nothing living was up there, like the bee hive a few years back. The honey had been delicious and the wax useful for making candles, but Zorin hated for anything to live in the tower. Besides herself and Seras, that was it. Even spiders or bats that ate other creatures were not welcome.

When the ceiling was spotless and every speck of dust fell down that could, Seras wrapped her hair around a rafter and used it as a rope to slide down.

"Sun has just risen: the usual morning lineup," she said to Batty.

From personal experience, she knew to hit the taller objects first. She dusted until the bookshelves, tables, grandfather clock with the skeleton draped along the top, wardrobes and mantles were all spotless. Many a disappointed day, Seras had worked so hard to sweep till the floor was all clean, then polish and wax and mop and shine up, only to dust and find that she had to sweep again, and by then, it was... what? Early in the eve.

So now Seras took care of the tall surfaces first, and second, and third. She scoured the highest bookshelves in Zorin's library. She wiped the top, and once every few weeks removed several volumes at a time to wipe the dust behind and underneath, second by section until the whole thing was spotless. She also dusted and wiped every book each time, to keep them from getting ruined by the passage of time.

She often took out every travel cloak, dress and tunic in the wardrobes, hung them at the window and shook the dust off by beating them (also ridding the moths that would make their homes there). She also dusted the old broken grandfather clock that the skeleton lived on, and topped him off with a bit of "wine" if she accidentally woke him. He always either hassled her, or begged her for wine when she woke him.

"But you're dead!" she cried after three straight hours of his whining, "You can't smell wine, can't taste it!"

"But I _remember_..." he said.

So Seras sighed, rolled her eyes, and gave him water... The skeleton didn't notice the difference though. He gobbled it all down, though it dripped through his hollow chin, which Seras had to mop up. When she wore his bone white cheeks turned rosy red, and she had to listen to his drunk rambling for hours.

She didn't like the skeleton on the grandfather clock much, because he seemed to like nothing better than to annoy her and dodge her questions. Thankfully he spend most of his time sleeping, and only woke when woken, so that was a blessing.

Every metal object - from the candle chandelier hanging from the ceiling (which Zorin preferred to use, while Seras preferred the hatch that let in sunlight) to the candelabras atop every table and mantle, to the silver in the drawer - got polished until Seras' fingers and arms ached. Every wooden surface then got waxed as needed. She was sure she forgot something - oh no! The charcoal in the fireplace, and the - oh thank goodness, Seras cleaned it yesterday! She didn't know what she would have done if she had forgotten to scrub it out before polishing the floors, gotten soot everywhere, had to start again, and the fire demon within made fun of her _again_.

One time he had decided to be spiteful and cause the whole fireplace to burst with sooth that spattered in her face, and he chuckled sadistically.

"Thanks, Calcifer," Seras had said flatly.

And now it was time to take out a magical item, or two, or three, and add some sparkle to Zorin's gallery. Every glass, every vial, every pearl, gem, tooth and egg, no matter how small or cracked, Seras had to make sure to scrub and rub until it shined.

She eagerly opened a chest where all manner of beautiful things resided, from enchanted gold stolen from a dragon to ancient dragon's eggs that had been turned to stone by the eons. They still shimmered and shined, and Seras loved taking them out just to hold them and polish them until their scaly shells flashed in many different colors; like the mother-of-pearl necklace Zorin claimed to have stolen from a mermaid. Oh, speaking of which, a Seras had to take care of a mermaid scale necklace that had so far been neglected.

Seras didn't know it, but Zorin had no real use for her. She taught her how to sing for her amusement when she was younger, but that brought diminishing returns as Seras was still a child that needed care. So, Zorin squeezed every use she could out of her. She had Seras clean and organize every inch of her tower, where Zorin hoarded every manner of things she had reaped over the years.

In short, Seras cleaned everything; ceiling, rafters, hearth, bookshelves, grandfather clock, wardrobes, mantle and tables. Polished everything made of metal, waxed everything made of wood, and wiped down everything made of glass. She also scrubbed the dishes and the laundry, though those were only there for her benefit.

When she knew she had gotten all the high rising objects, she swept till the floor was all clean. When she mopped and polished, which took all day. She swept again, and by then, it was, what? A little after noon?

"Wow, I've really condensed this down," Seras grinned to Batty.

It used to take her days to accomplish this much work, then for a long time it took all day just to do this much.

Then Seras treated herself to a book, or maybe two, or three. Zorin had never taught her to read, but Seras had picked up little bits and pieces over the years. (Seras didn't fully realize it, but Zorin did not teach her because she didn't want her getting any ideas, or thinking... But then it was probably not the best idea to have her look at the pictures in the spellbook as she cast spells and created potions. Seras was bound to start putting the letters together.)

Then she made the midday meal, and used the leftover dough from the bread to make sweets. While she ate, she held out her wrist for Batty to bite and lap up. She had found that, unlike most other bats, he didn't eat insects, fruits or flowers. He only drank fresh blood, and Seras was the one to provide it. So, every few days she held out her wrist and tried to pretend she wasn't grossed out by his meal while she ate herself.

Then after lunch it was time to clean up again, and get to the dreaded task: she stuck her head out the window, pulled the little lever connected to the huge water tower hidden in the roof, which let water slide down a pipe and into her hair. Seras then scrubbed the scalp thoroughly, and let the suds travel down the strands, then rinsed and wrung out the rest. Then she wet and scrubbed the rest of her person, dumped the used water out the window, then lowered the bucket tied to her hair into the stream beside the tower to pull up fresh water, and filled up the water stored in the tower.

Then she took out a magic brush that ran through her hair like water, which prevented it from getting snarled in the worst of the dreadlocks, and she brushed, and brushed, and brushed, and brushed, and brushed her hair, stuck in the same place she'd always been.

Then she sat up in the rafters, and got to the long, arduous task of dividing her hair down the middle, and to tie each side in long, long, long, long tight braids.

Then she went to the center of the room and spread her hair in a circle to let it dry, and she kept wondering, and wondering, and wondering: "Is this all my life will bring?"

Zorin didn't visit as often as when Seras was a child. She came every few days, to bring food, make sure everything was in order, and use whatever was in the tower she wanted. Often, she added new things for Seras to clean, categorize, and take care of. And every day, without fail, Seras had to get up, clean every inch of the tower, and organize the piles of things inside. Once every several days to a few weeks, depending on how ambitious Seras was, she would unravel, wash, rinse, wring, brush, and re-braid her hair, which was so long it could hang to the bottom of the tower.

And Seras just kept wondering, and wondering, and wondering: is this all her life would bring?

Seras went over to the window to look out into the beautiful, sunny, wide open world that Zorin disappeared into every day, and she said, "Tomorrow night... Zorin will leave for her magic gathering in the capitol... just like she does every year."

She then looked to Batty Koda. "What is it like, out there?"

He shrugged.

"... Maybe now that I'm older, and I've gotten all my chores done, Zorin might let me come too..."

And maybe, Seras hoped but didn't say, Zorin might let her pause on the way to see the floating lights in person, which she knew would shine at the same time, in the same direction.

She looked longingly out the window, then glanced at herself in the mirror.

She saw a small, young lady with a buxom figure, a tight bodice, sleeves rolled up to her elbows, and a pleated skirt that hovered over her bare ankles. She saw large blue eyes, a naïve and trusting face, and pale skin that had rarely seen more than drops of sunlight. (Zorin claimed her skin had gotten grey and leathery from being out in the sun so long, and visiting countries where the ground was made of fire.)

She also looked at her long hair and thick bangs that would be a liability, as Zorin said. While her hair had indeed grown unnaturally long since she was twelve, when Zorin had enchanted it into growing long enough to use as a rope, she still had shorter strands. Seras still had her thick, wild, spikey bangs, "feathers" around her ears, and shorter hairs at the nape of her neck. From this little mess of boyishly short strands, her two long braids emerged like little coiled ropes. Seras had tied her hair in one braid for the longest time, but now wanted to try something different, and also found that she could tie the braids much tighter this way, which meant they lasted longer before they came loose or tangled in places, and she had to unravel, wash, brush and braid again.

Every day, Seras did her chores without complaint. Every day, she cleaned and scrubbed and polished and waxed and mopped and shined up. She helped Zorin with her spells and potions, she sang for her whenever she came in, she did everything she asked and more.

Now, Seras wanted only one thing in return. One thing in her entire life. One thing that she would ask once and never again: to go see the floating lights she had admired from afar all her life. She wanted to see it once, and then would be content to come back into this tower for the rest of her days.

Day eventually faded to night, and Seras finished supper, cleaned that too, and then slipped into bed.

Zorin had not been back for a few days. Her visits were a little unpredictable. Usually she visited once a day with a basket of food and stayed for a meal. Occasionally she brought something else; some treasure she wanted to add to the pile, some new spell or potion she wanted to use. Sometimes she stayed the night; often she didn't. And now as Seras grew older, every now and again she would be gone for a few days at a time.

Seras slept in her bed in that cold, dark tower, while Batty hung upside down from a string of paper fireflies she'd tied to the four posters over her bed. She could hear Calficer cackling in the fireplace, and the grandfather clock tick in the corner, but mostly she felt comforted by Batty's little snores. That was all the sound she heard coming in from the tower.

Outside the tower, she heard little pops and booms, which disconcerted her. Zorin said there was a war outside, which was yet another reason to stay in. She had terrified Seras with such blood-curdling stories of war, soldiers, bullets, bombs, open wounds, infection, and women captured as "spoils of war" that Seras prayed never to see them in person. She also prayed they never drew too close.

"Of course you would worry, foolish girl," Zorin had once sneered, "But I an assure you that we are safe within this ravine. We are surrounded on all sides by insurmountable walls, with only a little cave covered by such thick vines that only move aside for me. Beyond that ist miles und miles of thick "Black Forests" that most humans would get lost long before they found this place. Those men can fight und kill each other as much as they want, but they will all die of starvation long before they find this place."

Eventually, she closed her eyes and slept.

Meanwhile, the war was drawing closer and closer to the tower, though unintentionally. They were being driven back by a particularly tenacious enemy. Meanwhile, the band of rband of mercenaries tasked with fighting them were not having as good a time of it. The Wild Geese mercenaries had been called to fight in a war within these borders, and were considered rather expendable. They were paid under contract, but provided nothing else. It was better than the sand trap of the Middle East and the jungles of Africa, most certainly, but their enemy surprised them with their almost suicidal overconfidence.

It wasn't helped by the fact that, as mercenaries and foreigners besides, they were considered expendable by their very employers.

Several dozen Wild Geese hid behind trees and ducked under rocks as bullets blasted near them, and bombs went off around them.

"Why the fuck are they shooting at us? We're on their side!"

"They don't give a shit! They've got a dozen sisters at home to fuck!"

"That makes two a day!"

"Keep your heads down and keep shooting!" their captain suddenly exclaimed. "They're shooting at us because we don't matter. There are plenty of common ruffians willing to pick up a gun to die for money!"

"Ain't that the truth?"

Suddenly a cannon hit way too close for comfort, and they were nearly blasted off their feet. After the damage report came in, they found themselves attacked by a new wave of enemy line. They fought the enemy off bravely, but there was one who was exceptionally stronger than the others. He waded through the battlefield like Moses in the Red Sea, and mowed through soldiers like the Grim Reaper mows down souls with his scythe. And he quickly came toward them.

Their Captain saw no other alternative.

"Head for the trees!" Pip shouted.

The next morning, Seras woke bright and early. She was awake long before dawn, then rose with the first morning light. She was so nervous, she could hardly sit still. She completed her chores in record time, as it was still only mid-morning when she finished.

"All right Batty, this is it," she said as she placed the last brush away, "I'm going to do it! I'm going to ask her."

Speak of the Devil, she heard the familiar thick, deep, grating voice of Zorin Blitz exclaim from far below:

"Seras! Oh Seras Victoria!

Let down your long hair!"

"Coming Zorin!" she cried, and scrambled for the window. She looked back at Batty, who wrapped his wings around himself and hid high up in the shadows of the rafters where she couldn't see him, and then went to the window. She loosened one of her braided tresses, wound them round one of the hooks of the window above, and then the hair fell fifty ells down, and the enchantress latched onto it.

Seras then placed one, then two feet on the hard stone wall and pulled Zorin up with all her might and mein. Considering Seras was a short and slight girl while Zorin was taller than the average man and thick with bulky muscles, along with travel boots and a full napsack, this was no small feat. Along with the physically taxing chores she had to do each day, this contributed to Seras' slim but noticeable muscles.

When Zorin finally entered the tower, she seemed to fill it up with her tall, bulky, menacing presence. Seras subconsciously lowered her head just seeing her.

"Oh, Seras!" she said with affected concern, "How you manage to do that every day without fail! It looks absolutely _exhausting_, little thing."

"... Oh, it's nothing," Seras panted.

"Then I don't know why it takes so long!" Zorin grinned, and bopped her on the head. She then roared with laughter. "Oh, the look on your face! You know I'm just teasing. Don't take everything so seriously, little creature."

Seras forced herself to chuckle, "All right."

Being around Zorin was always difficult. On top of being a huge and menacing woman, she had a huge personality. She was forceful, boisterous, and rather theatrical. Everything she said and did was done with force. Her large grey muscles seemed to be filled with some compressed energy. She nearly yelled every word she said, and her voice seemed to bounce off the walls. She always woke the skeleton that slept on the grandfather clock, then her overbearing personality drove him back to sleep. Her every step seemed to shake the tower, or at least caused the sound of the steps to echo along the walls.

She was very rough and overbearing with Seras. She treated her with dramatic, theatrical affection. She often grabbed her with her large hands, squeezing, pulling and shoving so hard she always left marks. Seras had huge bruises all along her body with Zorin's fingerprints. She tended to "playfully" slap Seras whenever she told a funny story, or Seras told her something she found funny; and the force of the slap often made her knees buckle. She often clutched her shoulders or face when inspecting her for injury or showing her scraps of affection; ironically creating more injury with her fingertips.

Mostly she talked and Seras listened. She told Seras whatever she had to say, and would blow off anything Seras tried to tell her with stealth insults or theatrical changes in subject.

And Seras was finding this trouble now.

"So, Zorin. As you and I both know: today is a big day..."

"Oh, Leibchen, Zorin ist feeling a little run down. Why don't you sing for me, then we'll talk."

"Oh, all right!" And Seras quickly got out a chair for Zorin, hurriedly pushed her down onto it, all the while singing as quickly as she could:

_"What is plucked will grow again,_

_What is slain lives on,_

_What is stolen will remain-_

_What is gone is gone."_

Seras boiled water quickly for Zorin, stoking the fire as high as it'll go to make the water boil as fast as it'll go.

_"What is sea-born dies on land,_

_Soft is trod upon._

_What is given burns the hand-_

_What is gone is gone."_

Ignoring Zorin's protests to slow down, Seras slapped the tea cup in front of her and continued to sing at the speed of a hare's breath:

_"Here is there, and high is low;_

_All may be undone._

_What is true, no two men know-_

_What is gone is gone."_

"Wait!" Zorin demanded.

On the final verse, Seras sat before Zorin and sang in record speed:

_"Who has choices need not choose,_

_We must, who have none,_

_We can love but what we lose-_

_What is gone is gone!"_

When she finished, Zorin growled

"Seras Victoria!" she scolded. The song was meant to be sun slowly and sadly, with a sense of sorrow and loss, as Death and Time take away everything we hold dear in this world... and Seras sang is as quickly and cheerfully as she could.

Ignoring Zorin's ire, Seras practically jumped into lap with an enthusiastic smile on her face.

"So, Zorin, as I was saying, today is a big day. You didn't seem that enthusiastic, so I'll just tell you why: you're going to that witch's gathering in the capitol city!"

"It's not that remarkable," Zorin said flatly, "I make the journey every year."

"But, that's the thing," Seras said before she could stop herself; Zorin could silence her with a glare, and she wanted to say it while she still had confidence, "This time, I can go with you!"

"No you can't," Zorin said flatly. ""That ist out of the question," Zorin said simply, and turned away.

Seras was hearbroken. "Why?"

"First off, you don't know magic."

"I've learned some scraps from you..."

"An apprentice is not a witch," Zorin said, "You will not be welcome at the gathering."

"Then I can just travel beside you, and do something else for the gathering. I won't get in your way, I promise."

Before Zorin could answer, Seras poured her long list of long-memorized, long-rehearsed reasons to come along. She can carry her bags for her, she'd practiced running in circles for hours at a time in the tower so she knew she could keep up, she knew basic healing and herbal magic so she could refresh Zorin on the journey, she could set up camp and boil water and do everything she needed so she wouldn't have to do it herself. She'll be only a help and not a bother, she promised!

"Besides, one thing I haven't told you yet: In a few days, it's my birthday!"

Zorin peeled Seras' fingers off her arm like a wet napkin. "Was? Nein. Nein, nein, nein. It can't be. I _distinctly_ remember your birthday was _last year_."

"That's the thing about birthdays, Zorin, they keep rolling along like stones," Seras grinned.

Zorin glared at her.

Seras sighed. "Zorin... the other reason I wanted to go... the thing I really want, more than anything... actually, the only thing I _ever_ really wanted..."

"Oh, Seras stop with the mumbling. You know how I feel about the mumbling: blah blah blah blah blah! It's very annoying."

Seras felt discouraged, and would have normally given up, had Batty not squeaked to get her attention and encouraged her to try again.

Knowing Zorin hated mumbling and would just cut her off or dismiss her explanations, she decided to just come out and say it. "I want to see the floating lights!"

This seemed to take Zorin aback. "Was?"

"Oh, the thing is..." Seras said, "You said you go to the capital city every year for that witch's gathering, right? Where witches, wizards, warlocks, and mages of all kind meet to discuss magic..." Seeing that she was losing Zorin's interest, she quickly pulled out a map she had marked and folded in her pocket for this very occasion. "I charted the map, and the capital city is west of here, a good three day's journey. Well, every year, around the time you leave, the night sky lights up with floating lights that emerge from the same direction as the capital city. I was hoping you would take me with you this time, then on the way to the gathering you could take me to see the floating lights."

Zorin gave her such a look that would kill any lesser girl's spirit, and walked away. You can drop me off where the floating lights will be on the way to the gathering, then pick me up afterwards and we'll return to the tower together. I can make myself a lunch, and hide in a hood, and avoid talking to people. I'll just see the lights and wait for you, I promise!"

"Or I'll leave you here und we will not entertain this ridiculous notion any longer," Zorin said.

"Please, Zorin! I need to know! I want to see them in person. I've never asked for anything before. Just let me come with you this one time. I won't get in your way, and I won't be a burden, I promise."

"You want to go outside? Oh, Seras Victoria," she smirked as she shut the only open window. She then towered over Seras, grabbed her arms and swung her around so hard she nearly gave her whip-lash. "Still a little sapling..." She then patted her head in a condescending way, "Just a sprout!" Zorin gestured to the room with theatrical importance, "You know why we stay inside this tower!"

"I know, but..." Seras began.

"Jawol, to keep you safe und sound," Zorin cooed, grabbing Seras' chin and drawing her close so she could see her theatrically concerned face.

She then shoved her abruptly away and closed the curtains. "Soon, I knew this day was coming. Soon you'd want to leave the nest!"

"But, I..." Seras began.

"Soon, but not yet!"

"But-!" Seas exclaimed.

"Shh!" Zorin clapped a huge hand over her mouth, and waved a finger in her face. "Trust me, _pet_..."

The same hand Zorin used to wag her finger at Seras then opened at the palm, revealing a large purple eye. She then flexed her hand and held it high over her head: "Zorin knows best!"

She then plunged her flat palm onto the hard stone floor, and the countless little letters and symbols that covered the entire right side of her body seemed to multiply and flood onto the floor like water. The letters and symbols then expanded and engulfed every surface of the tower. Seras watched as they traveled up every furniture leg and wall that connected to the floor, then travel up the wall from all sides until they met at the open latch in the ceiling; which suddenly clicked and slammed shut.

The tower then engulfed in darkness, and Zorin laughed maniacally within its depths. Seras shivered and tried to look around.

"Zorin knows best, listen to your guardian..." Zorin sang cheerfully but sadistically within.

"It's a scary world out there!" Suddenly, out of the darkness sprang a giant beast that looked like a cross between a wolf and man. It had shaggy white fur with a feral face; glowing red eyes, a face contorted in animalistic rage, and huge bared fangs with drool sliding down its jowls. It easily towered over Seras, even hunkered over, and it raised huge hands ending in giant claws high over its head, prepared to slash and strike as Seras.

She yelped and jumped back, then it disappeared back into the darkness.

"Zorin knows best..."

Just then, something grabbed at her hair in the dark. Seras yelped and turned around, trying to pull her hair back. Then she saw the same Boogey Man that haunted her childhood nightmares, which she always used to fear was hiding under her bed at night, grabbed at her hair and trying to pull her toward him.

Seras screamed, then pulled as hard as she could - only for him to suddenly let go. Seras stumbled back several feet and collapsed onto the ground.

"Ruffians..."

Attacking her from the darkness, Seras saw the tallest, dirties, scruffiest, most menacing and hang-dog men she could have imagined. All looking so huge, malicious, and murderous.

"Thugs..."

Once Seras dodged away from the first batch, Seras saw even taller, larger, more muscled and menacing men. Each wore dirty and frayed dusters, scarves, hats and patches, grizzled mugs, and carried knives and broken bottles. They growled and moaned, and lunged at Seras, attacking her with their weapons. She screamed and darted away. As soon as they re-entered the darkness, they seemed to disappear for good.

"Poison ivy..."

When Seras thought she had escaped the thugs reaching for her with their huge hands, she felt her feet get tangled in something. She fell down again, then saw that her feet were snared in a great vine-like bush. The vines wriggled and writhed, and slowly twined around her feet. She screamed and struggled to get away, but they constricted tighter. She then felt her skin burn and itch where the vines touched her, and only got worse as they wrapped tighter around her. She screamed and tried to crawl away, but the harder she tried to run, the faster and tighter they twined around her.

Just then, Zorin's mighty scythe shot out and sliced the vines that snared her feet. The stems paused in mid-air, then suddenly collapsed as though dead. Seras scrambled to her feet, and struggled to rip the remaining vines off. They burned and scratched her hands where she toughed them, and she saw that where the vines had been, her skin developed deep red rashes, and oozing purple and green boils.

She felt her own hair brush against her own back, but feeling so spooked she thought they might be more vines. Her skin crawled, and she shuddered and tried to wipe it off her, while still looking fearfully around.

"Quick sand!"

Seras then felt her feet begin to sink. Her feet felt like they submerged in something hard and grainy, yet as thick and soppy as porridge. She was also sinking When she was knee-deep in the quicksand, she gasped and grasped around the floor for anything. When she felt solid stone floor, she heaved herself onto it, panting heavily.

"Cannibals and ghouls..."

Seras then saw menacing people of both genders, similar to the above ruffians and thugs but much more dark, feral, slim, slight and savage. They were gathering around and glaring at her with eyes that lacked humanity, chewing on the limbs of their own bludgeoned children.

She nearly vomited, but thankfully hadn't eaten breakfast. Instead, Seras retched and shot back. She then bumped into something, turned around and gasped on seeing what looked like a rotting corpse. It had greyish skin, a lacked jaw and features. It hunkered over, and shambled like a puppet on a string. Pieces of its body was missing.

As she step back, Seras saw several ghouls slowly march toward her, while others hunkered over to eat the pieces of a young lady torn apart. They sank their teeth into her soft, supple flesh. They ripped the flesh from her bones like strips of chicken off the wing. Seras screamed and bolted so hard she crashed into a table so hard she limped afterwards.

Seras sobbed out loud. "Zorin, please stop!"

"Oh, Meine Liebling, we haf just begun," Zorin cooed in her ear while clutching her shoulder.

Seras turned around, but saw no Zorin there. When she looked back toward the ghouls, she saw they were gone too.

"There are more than just people you should vorry about," Zorin's voice continued from the darkness. "Ruffians, thugs, cannibals und ghouls? Bad enough, but you can run away from them. But what about diseases in the air, like... Typhus?"

Seras saw a beautiful, pale girl with long, lushious hair like hers waisting away from an illness that made her pale, gaunt, raw around the eyes, and red in the lips.

Zorin then grabbed her shoulder from behind and turned her away. "The Plague!"

Seras then stood facing an overcrowded sick room, with dozens of people dying from plague-related illness. Men and women of all ages - young women like her, men, the elderly, and children, all drooping against the wall or laying in bed, wailing and dying. She saw men and women coughing and moaning in pain from their sick beds, covered in blue and purple lumps. She smelled the sweat, the sickness and the rot; so potent it made her wretch and gag. She then felt herself begin to cough, and saw her skin break out with red dots, and felt several parts of her body swell with little purple lumps.

"No!" Seras cried.

"Yes!" Zorin grinned manically.

She then pushed her hand on the small of Seras' back and gestured to something with the dramatic wave of her arm.

"Also large bugs!"

A giant spider with eight beady eyes, a huge hairy body, twitching mouth tendrils, and giant twitching legs then stalked forward.

Seras screamed outright, then just about lost it when a spider the size of a cat landed in her hair. She landed on the ground desperately brushing herself off, then hunkered over at giant hornets with stingers . Their wings beat faster than she could see, and buzzed so loud the stone walls shook. They circled around Seras, brandishing their stingers at her.

They then lunged at Seras, but with a WHOOSH of Zorin's mighty scythe, a great gust blew them away and they flew away, back into the darkness, where they were not seen or heard again. It's like they disappearned back into the void.

"Giant beasts!"

From the void, huge, hungry bears; snapping, snarling wolves; and the aforementioned wolf man all circled her with their teeth and claws bared.

"Ah!" Seras cried; her voice was a silent scream that died in her throat.

"Also, vampires with pointed teeth!"

A large brutish man similar to the ruffians and thugs from before, wearing a thick enclosed trench coat and skull caps over his face, then bared his mouth full of fangs and lunged at Seras.

She screamed and ducked. At the same time, Zorin rose up in front of her so the vampire half-rolled, half-bounced over her shoulder, and went flying back till he went "SPLAT!" against the wall.

Zorin then threw her arm over her forehead in a mock "Woe is me!" way.

"Stop, no more! You'll just upset me!" Zorin said in a mocking tone.

Meanwhile, Seras had had all she could take and huddled in the ground in a protective cocoon of her own hair.

Zorin then stooped down beside her wearing her travel cloak, roughly grabbed her wrist, and forcefully pulled her up. "Mother's right here, Mother will protect you."

Desperate for _any_ sort of familiarity and comfort, even if it was from the one terrorizing her, Seras instinctively wrapped her arms around Zorin's torso.

She then felt something odd under her arms and cheek, and opened her eyes. The travel cloak was still there, but what was under looked... naked.

From the stairs, she saw Zorin surrounded by lit candles at the edge of the steps. Zorin grinned maniacally and gestured wildly, "Skip the drama, stay with mama...! MOTHER~! KNOWS! BEST!"

She then grabbed her huge scythe, swung it in the air, and the resulting whoosh of air blew the candles out.

Seras looked tentatively around in the dark, then felt the floor shake under her feet. She felt the whole tower rumble, creek and moan, and heard and felt dust and loose stones loosen from the ceiling. Then she saw a stampede of monstrous beasts charging for her. Huge, grey and leather-skinned like Zorin, with huge pointed horns sticking out of their noses, red flames in their eyes and smoke billowing behind their mouths. She screamed and tried to run out of the way, and then they ran beside her and charged into the darkness.

"Go ahead! Get trampled by a rhino!" Zorin exclaimed from the dark.

Seras nearly sobbed in fear and looked around again, only to find huge scary men, even bigger, stronger, and more frightening than Zorin on her worst day, charge Seras with knives.

"Go ahead! Get raped and left for dead!"

They grabbed her hair and tore at her dress, and she screamed and struggled in their grasp. They cut her hair and tore her dress and forced her down with their huge bodies, and would have done more had Zorin not swiped at them with her scythe, so that they faded away like mist in the air.

"Me? I'm your guardian, what can I do?"

Zorin pulled Seras up by the wrist, and Seras nearly sobbed in relief and tearfully embraced her.

"I only bathed und changed und nursed you," Zorin said, clasping Seras' face in her strong hands. "When your dear mutter und vater left you here to me, I could have drowned you, cooked you in a stew or left you out to die alone. Instead I took you in und raised you as my own," Zorin's grip on Seras' face tightened considerably, "und this ist how you repay me?"

Seras was about to protest, but Zorin pushed her away and dramatically exclaimed, "Go ahead und leave me, I deserve it! Leave me here to die alone, be my guest!"

Seras stood there alone in the dark, feeling guilty, when she felt strange hands grab her shoulder in the dark, and turned around to see something worse than ghouls or ruffians; ruffians who became ghouls; who looked upon her tender flesh in the same hungry way the rapists had.

"When it's too late, you'll see, just wait!"

Seras jerked away from them and bodily ran into Zorin, who clutched her shoulders with her huge strong hands, and said, "Zorin knows best."

She then disappeared in the dark again. Seras felt around, then felt the table. As Zorin sang, Seras felt she couldn't take it anymore and lit a few candles on a nearby candelabra. As she did, Zorin walked behind her and snuffed them out.

"Zorin knows best. Zorin knows best. Take it from your adopted mutter: you won't survive!"

Seras tried to feel around in the dark, terrified of what might jump out at her next. Her imagination raced with countless creatures that could jump out at her in the dark, and whenever Zorin did this, most of them materialized right in front of her; usually more terrible than even she imagined. When she turned around, she suddenly saw Zorin holding out the large oval mirror before her.

"Just look at you!" she said, and tilted the mirror down so Seras could see her whole appearance: "Despite all my efforts to raise you properly, you still turned out weak und small, meek und frail. Sloppy, underdressed, clumsy..."

Suddenly realizing she was barefoot, and thus exposed and vulnerable, Seras ducked and tried to cover her feet with her long pleated skirt, only for something to hiss in the dark and pull the rug out from under her. She fell hard against the hard stone flood, then felt those familiar large, strong hands roll her along the floor like a throw rug. As she rolled her along, Seras go rolled up in her own long hair.

"Please! Out there, they'll eat you up alive!" Zorin exclaimed gleefully. She then stood Seras upright, and pulled her hair so hard that Seras spun around like a top at the speed her hair unraveled fast. As she did, Zorin happily exclaimed:

"Gullible, naïve!

Positively grubby!

Ditzy und a bit..." Zorin grabbed her chin in her hand and examined Seras' face critically, "Well, hm... vague!"

She then suddenly let go of Seras face so suddenly that she nearly collapsed from lack of support.

"Plus, I do believe: getting rather chubby," Zorin said as she patted Seras' huge breasts.

Seras flushed in shame and embarrassment, and opened her mouth to try to protest, only for Zorin to suddenly grab her head with her hands and crush her cheek against her own while swinging her around. In a mock sickly sweet, syrupy voice, Zorin exclaimed, "I'm just saying 'cause I wuv you!"

Then she suddenly let Seras go and left her alone in the darkness. From it, she exclaimed in a cheerful voice: "Zorin understands! Zorin's here to help you."

Suddenly a frosty chill filled the air, and Seras cried out in fear and felt around.

Just as suddenly, a light lit up in the darkness, and Zorin stood there: tall, strong, sturdy, and benign. A promise of protection and support in a world that was so dark, cold, cruel, and horrifying.

"All I have ist one request!" she exclaimed as she held out her arms.

Seras nearly sobbed in relief, and rushed into Zorin's arms. Seras clung to her for dear life, as her only source of safety and comfort in this whole world. Zorin allowed her to do so for a moment, and then said in a stern voice, "Seras Victoria!"

"Yes, Zorin?" she asked, and looked up at her.

Zorin clutched her face in her hands again; a sign of affection from any other mother, but a sign of possession from her. If only Seras knew the difference. Zorin then looked her dead in the eye, and her lazy eye flashed as her lips curled back into a frown. She then dug her fingers painfully into Seras' face; so painfully, they left bruises along with those on her arms, torso, and even ankles. In a voice as hard and cruel as the stone of the tower, she said, "Don't you **dare** ask to leave this tower _again_."

Seras felt her heart sink like a stone, and the light and warmth to fade from her soul. But what could she do? Zorin knew best. Zorin was her source of safety, comfort, and affection. What she said went. She sighed and lowered her eyes. "Yes, Zorin," she said, the same way as when she was a child.

Only then did Zorin relent, and smile in a way that was not sadistic or mocking. She even trailed a hand down Seras hair. "You know I do this all for you, Leibling."

"I know it well," Seras said softly.

"I know it most," Zorin said, and kissed her on the forehead.

Seras closed her eyes and mentally mopped up the affection; the rare scrap of affection Zorin threw at her when she was good and obedient.

She would have been satisfied with it, and would have held onto that little kiss to tide her over for months (that is, tide over Seras' endless hunger for love and affection), had Zorin's face had not returned to its usual, psychotic, sadistic, mocking smirk. "Don't forget it!" she said, and patted Seras' head so hard it hurt, "You'll regret it... Zorin~! Knows. Best."

She then grabbed Seras' hair and let it run through her fingers as she headed for the open window.

"Now lower me down, I haf a few more things to fetch before I leave tonight."

Seras felt crushed, heartbroken, and abandoned. Yet, she did not cry or let on because she knew it was weakness in Zorin's eyes. So she sniffed, suppressed the tears, and forced a smile. "All right." So she draped her hair over the hook by the window, and lowered Zorin to the ground.

"Ta ta, Meine Schatzi!"

"I'll be here..." Seras said sadly, and slowly pulled her hair up.


End file.
